Tag Archives: tomatoes

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

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Oh you guys–this recipe is a winner. I haven’t been posting recipes as often as I’d like, but I’m making this happen because it’s so tasty and awesome and it was so much fun to make on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

I first encountered lasagna rolls on the internet. In fact, I saw them years ago and immediately wrote them off as too complicated and probably not delicious enough to be worth the (seeming) effort.

Then, in January I went to Arizona to visit my sister Erica and her babies, including the newly minted Joshua (born on New Years Day!).

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Arizona. It’s brown.

Someone brought us a meal the second evening I was there: lasagna rolls. They were so, so good that I immediately decided to make them upon my return home.

Then, the folks at Red Gold were kind enough to send me a promotional kit with the materials to make lasagna. I had everything I needed to make these little bundles of tomato and pasta love. It’s like the stars had aligned, or something.

So on a relaxing Sunday, I got out the step stool and put my baby to work.

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Mix this stuff! Roll that stuff! Bake that stuff!

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And what was I doing while my little one was slaving away? Well sitting on the couch eating bonbons, of course. Heh heh.

How’s the ricotta mixture shaping up over there Alice?

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Good?

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Wait Alice! Don’t eat it! There’s raw egg in there!

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Sorry kiddo. One day you’ll understand.

Phew–that was a close call. Okay, no more bonbons–gotta keep this baby on track.

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Anyway, I gleaned the recipe from Skinny Taste, and man is it good.

And about 2 rolls are just enough to fill the stomach of a hungry adult human.

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And it turns out it’s not so hard to make! Especially if you have a wee one to help with all the important parts–like banging the measuring cup on the counter and tasting the mozzarella.

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For the record, my husband said, “Wow, this is better than actual lasagna.” Then he looked up and said, “Don’t tell my Aunt Laura I said that.”

We can only hope that Aunt Laura doesn’t read this far down into the post. {cue evil laughter}

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

9 cooked lasagna noodles
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
15 oz ricotta cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
Salt and pepper, to taste
32 oz spaghetti sauce
9 TBS grated mozzarella cheese

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  2. Spread out the cooked lasagna noodles on a large piece of wax paper and let them dry.
  3. Mix the spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, and egg with some salt and pepper.
  4. Spread about 1 cup of spaghetti sauce over the bottom of a 9×12 baking dish.
  5. Evenly spread 1/3 cup of the ricotta mixture down the whole length of each noodle. Like thees.

DSC_01966. Roll each noodle, and place them all seam-side down into the baking dish.

7. Ladle the rest of the spaghetti sauce over the noodles, and top each roll with 1 TBS mozzarella.

DSC_02238. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.

Ta daa!

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Serve hot!

Alice and I hope you guys enjoy it.

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Yay for babies and food! Two of my favorite things in life.

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Chana Dhal and Courgette Curry

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My brother-in-law John is staying with us again this summer and expressed an interest in trying Indian food.

You mean John lived with us all last summer and I DIDN’T COOK INDIAN FOOD? What kind of a sister-in-law am I????

Plagued by the knowledge that if I didn’t rectify this–and fast–my head would explode in flames, I decided to make a vegetarian and meat curry pronto. This is the vegetarian recipe I chose, and it’s so good, you guys. I came home the next day hoping to eat the small amount of leftovers for a late afternoon snack, but lo and behold John had eaten them already.

I was slightly pleased, I can’t lie.

There’s no better proof of love than the disappearance of leftovers before they’ve even been in the fridge for 24 hours.

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Anyway, there are no words adequate enough to express my love for this curry.

Though this facial expression comes close to illustrating it.

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With no hard-to-find ingredients (you can use yellow split peas as I did, and the lime juice and brown sugar take the place of tamarind juice), there’s no excuse not to make it.

Unless you don’t like Indian food.

In which case . . . well, I just have to believe that you haven’t actually tasted Indian food yet.

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Not tasted Indian food?

You poor soul.

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Ingredients

Serves 4

2/3 cup chana dhal or yellow split peas, washed
3 cups water
4 TBS vegetable oil
2 green chilies, de-seeded and minced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 inch piece of ginger, minced
8 curry leaves (optional)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp turmeric
3 medium winter squash or zucchini, chopped into quarter moons
2 TBS lime juice
2 TBS brown sugar
2 medium to large tomatoes, chopped
Salt, to taste
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
Cooked rice, to serve

1. In a deep pan, bring the dhal or split peas to a simmer with the 3 cups of water and a generous pinch of salt. Simmer for about 30 minutes, until tender (but not mushy), adding more water as needed and stirring every now and then.

2. In the meantime, heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the onion (and a pinch of salt) and cook for about 15 minutes, until starting to caramelize.

3. Add the chilies, garlic, ginger and curry leaves to the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the chili powder, turmeric, and another pinch of salt to the onions. Cook for 1 minute, stirring so that the spices don’t burn.

5. By now the chana dhal or split peas should be tender, so add them to the pot with the onions, including any water that wasn’t absorbed.

6. Add the squash or zucchini, lime juice, sugar, tomatoes and cilantro to the pot. Simmer over medium heat until the squash or zucchini is tender, 20-30 minutes.

7.  Taste and season with more salt if needed. Serve over rice!

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